Chapter 9 – An Unexpected Ending

It was 5.30 and I was standing in front of the mirror looking at myself. I was wearing my low-cut Levi's with a white tank that said 'I know I'm good looking'. It was very low and you could see a lot of clevage. My hair was just falling loosely around my face, I had straightened it. As finishing touch, I was wearing my new Adidas Respect M.E. sneakers plus a lot of bling-jewelery.

Doing a double check in the mirror, Carlos came walking in the room. When he saw me, he blinked his eyes.

"Who are you and where is my angel eyes?"

"Very funny C. Was there a purpose for you to come in or did you forget where your room was?" I stuck my tongue out to my older brother, who just rolled his eyes and leaned against the doorpost.

"I just came to say hi and I wanted to know what you was wearing. Not that you was getting out of this house dressed in something that will rock the boys world and get him in trouble with a certain brother. But I'm afraid I too late to tell you to cover yourself up, ain't I?"

"Yeah you are and I'm not showing a lot. What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" There were moments where my brother could be my annoying older brother and there were moments that he could act like parents would act. Now, it was the second.

"Hey, you've got a gorgeous body and that's what I'm afraid of. Like I said, I don't wanna get the boy in trouble over something stupid he did."

I just looked at him with a grin. He ws a strange and complicated person, but he loved me and wanted to protect me against the whole big bad world out there. Too bad that he wasn't with me like let's say 4 years ago. I mean, then I'd probably be a sweet young girl with no criminal record and whoo was living a quiet but nice life. Damn, does that sound boring.

Wait, say bye-bye to boring life, I'd probably wouldn't be living a quiet nice life. I'm forgetting thatmy brother's a criminal too. One who the FBI's looking for, just because he made some deals that ended withthe goverment losing a lot of monye. Ha, now don't go of thinking that we're just a couple of uncivilized, ill-bred criminals who need a good ass whoop. Yeah, you may be right about the ill-bred part, cause of my no-daddy-fucked-up-mommy situation, but we're everything except for uncivilized. We're very nice people, just don't mess with us cause then you in trouble. Big trouble.

I was cut out of my thoughts by the doorbell ringing. I got my purse, walked over to Carlos, gave him a kiss goodbye and then went downstairs to answer the door.

LEON'S POV

I rang the doorbell, a bit nervous. What is wrong with me? I've never ever been nervous about a girl before, but then again, I never actually dated a girl before either. Or like-like liked a girl. Yeah, that was new too. And most of the time I'll just want a girl to get a good lay, but with Kyra I couldn't care less. Damn, if Vince could hear me now... he'll probably think I was sick or on drugs. Me and Vince, we're the same type of person. We don't need a relationship, causethe only thing it will bring you is trouble. No, normally I wouldn't even think about it. I would say it was something foul, something nasty and something disgusting. But now, I don't even know what I want.

The door went open and there was Kyra, looking even prettier than before. Okay, Leon stop drooling, it's action time.

"Hey there, baby girl."

"Hey pretty boy."

"Wow, you look amazing." She really did.

"You look pretty too." Good, she thinks I look good too. I couldn't decide what to wear, can you imagine that? A man not knowing what to wear? You see, this gril makes me something weird: a guy with feelings.

"So, you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm ready. Come on." Kyra stepped out of the doorway closing the door behind her, took my hand and walked over to my car. Then she let go and went over to the passenger side, smiled at me and got in. I just shook my head and got in too.

"So, where you taking me?"

"You'll see, be patience."

"I don't like being patience." She kept her eyes at me, while I just drove on with a smile on my face.

"You already know where you gonna take me?" She asked 2 minutes later.

"Ha, you keep trying till we get there it'll still be a surprise till we get there."

"You sure? Cause I've got my ways of getting what I want."

"You do, huh?" I stopped in front of a red traffic light.

"Yeah, I do and not even you are gonna say no after it." She leaned in closer and kissed my jaw line. I turned my head towards her and smiled. This girl was good, real good.

"Are you trying to charm me off, baby girl?"

"No, of course not. Who do you think I am? You?" She stuck her tongue out to me and sat back in her seat, trying to look offended by that.

"I'm not someone who will try to charm people off to get my will. And what's so bad about being me?"

"Nothing, I'm just kidding pretty boy. There's nothing wrong with being you. Except for the fact that you're a guy skank… oh and you're worshiped by a lot of ugly skanks… and wait the fact that you still look hot when you're all sweaty and covered with grease. But I don't know if that's a bad thing." She laughed.

"No that's not a bad thing, cause you like it. Admit it, you like me all manly."

"I'm not admitting that! And then what? Tomorrow you'll be all over me without taking a shower, all smelly making me dirty? No way."

"I'm way too nice to do something like that! And what about that thing you said about me being a guy skank. What's that?" I parked the car in front of the restaurant where we were gonna eat.

"It's exactly what you think it is."

"And what do I think it is?"

"I don't know. We gonna eat here?"

"Switching subject won't help, you gonna tell me sometime soon what you meant with it."

"Okay." She just said plainly, putting a sweet-girl smile on her face.

"If you're still interested, this is where we're gonna eat."

"Angelo Y Antonio?" She looked at the small Mexican restaurant. My parents owned it and it was called after me and my older brother. Antonio is my first name, but my parents always called me Leon, which is my first name. Angelo is my brother's first name, but we always call him David, his second name too. My parents opened it after we moved here from New York.

"Yeah, it is called after the sons of the owners."

"Wow, that's special. Well, let's go and eat. And then you can charm me off Leon style." She got out of the car.

"What do mean: charm you off Leon style?"

"Nothing, I meant nothing."

"Nothing again? Yeah sure, baby girl. What did you mean?" I closed in on her, while she was leaning against the car.

"You deaf? I said that I meant nothing with it, right? So what do you thing I meant?"

"I think that you know exactly what you meant with it and that you're about to tell me." Kyra smiled up at me, while I held her close between me and the car. This girl knew exactly what she was doing, every move that she made.

"You do, huh? And what makes you think that I'm about to tell you, cause I don't think I am."

"Because of this." She wanted this so I'm going to giver her this. I leaned closer in on her and brushed my lips on hers. Slowly I moved my hands from the car to her body, resting them around her waist.

"And you think that you gonna get your answer now?" Curse you woman.

"Haha, you hardheaded little…"

"Princess? I know, you don't have to complement me this much. I already like you, you know."

"Princess? I was gonna say something else, baby girl. So you gone tell me?"

"I meant that."

"What?"

"I meant this." She kissed my cheek. "And I meant this." She kissed the corner of my mouth.

"Oh, then you meant this for sure." I kissed her on the lips, now more passionate then before.

"Yeah, I meant that too."

"You ready to eat?"

"Uhhu, I'm hungry from all this." Kyra laughed, pushed me away gently and started walking to the entrance. I followed her, placing my arm around her shoulder.

When we entered mom immediately noticed us. She came out of the kitchen and walked over to us.

"Hey baby, me and your dad were wondering when you were coming over again."

"Hey ma, I'm sorry for not coming for so long. I've been really busy lately; the garage is full until October." I let go of Kyra to hug her.

"Don't worry about it, just give us a call sometime. Now tell me who this beautiful young lady is that you brought over."

"Yeah, mom this is Kyra. She's been taking a lot of my time too, so blame her too." I looked at Kyra with a playful smile.

"Did not."

"Did too. Kyra this is my mom."

"Hola señora, nice to meet you."

"¿Ah, tú eres de Mexico?"

"No, soy de Cuba."

"Well, nice to meet you too. It's nice to see that my son finally is becoming serious with his life and with such a beautiful girl too."

"Mom, maybe it's a good idea to show us a table now." I interrupted my mother before she was getting all cheerful about it.

"I know, this is embarrassing. I'll show you a nice table."

Mom led us further into the restaurant and showed us a very nice table at the window where we had a view at the town. The restaurant was built on one of the hills in LA.

"I'll send someone to take your orders."

"Kay, thanks mom." I gave her a kiss and we sat down.

"Wow, so first date is meet-the-parents?"

"No, this is just the best restaurant in town."

"Sure pretty boy. So tell me, why is it that you never told me that you can speak Spanish?"

"Ehm, I don't know. I just never spoke it out of the house, it's just me, my parents and my brother. I always got friends that were Americans, so I never spoke Spanish with my friends and I guess that never changed."

"Not even with Carlos or Letty? They're Spanish talking friends, right? And with me."

"That's true, but it just became a habit. I never spoke Spanish with friends. My turn, why don't you tell Carlos about the stuff that happened it the past?" I know, I know, risky question but I have to know.

"Why don't I tell C about my past? You dig in immediately, don't you? I don't know, it's something that's hard for me to tell. It's not like it's all happiness, you know. And it won't be fun for Carlos to hear some parts, while he was here having a great time. I'm afraid that when I tell him, he'll make himself angry and do something that he's gonna regret when it's over."

Wow, that's an answer I didn't expected. Something really bad musta happened. I thought she would just say something like that she doesn't feel like it or something, but not that it would involve Carlos' reaction.

"Hey Leon, what can I get you tonight?" I looked up to see Shannon, one of the waiters of the restaurant, standing at the table.

"Ehm, can you ask my mom if she can make something nice for us?"

"Yeah sure, and what do you wanna drink?" She looked at Kyra, already knowing that I was drinking Corona.

"A Corona, please."

"You too? I don't know what it is with Leon and the people he brings over but they always drink Corona."

"It's just real good, I can't help it. Plus you right, everybody drinks it at home and if you don't, you don't belong there. My brother will probably throw me out of the family if I didn't."

"Shannon, you always try to find someone who doesn't drink Corona with me, but you won't cause I don't got any friends crazy as that." I laughed at Shannon, who just shook her head and walked away.

"So you bring a lot of other people over for your momma?"

"No, just you and the team."

"Good, cause you already got me thinking you were hiding your life for the team."

"And why's that?"

"Cause they say you never ever dated a girl in life and because you hate relationships and you can't like a girl."

"They say that? Well what can I say, yes I never ever dated a girl in life but I think I can do that. But I don't hate relationships and I can like a girl. Just because I think relationships can be a pain in the ass doesn't mean I hate them, I just need the right girl and than it will be fine. Same thing for like a girl, I just need to find a girl I like and just because I haven't it doesn't mean I can't. I like you, don't I? So I do can like a girl." I smiled at her.

"You like me? Wow, now there is something I didn't expect to hear."

"What? Wasn't it pretty oblivious?"

"Yeah it was, but I'm not the girl most guys like. I'm the girl next door, not the girl you fall for. And if you do I'll make it pretty clear that it won't happen. Well, most of the time that is."

"Most of the time? You didn't with me, so what am I suppose to think about that?" I don't get it, does she like me or is this a way to tell me it ain't gonna happen.

"Pretty boy, did I let you know, in any type of way, that it ain't gonna happen? Cause if I did, I'ma take it back right now." Kyra laughed at my probably shocked face. I quickly restored myself and laughed with her.

"Hey I was just checking. Not that I'm gonna sweat my ass off and then you gonna tell me that it ain't gonna happen."

"No, please do sweat your ass off as much as you want. I'll watch and enjoy."

"You'll watch and enjoy? What about your ass?"

"What about it? You don't expect me to get on my knees and massage your feet, now do you? Cause if you do, you better think again baby boy."

"Ah man, there goes my wonderful fantasy. Imagine a man, hear as Leon, come in from a day's work in the garage, all sweaty and tired. His woman, hear as you baby girl, is waiting for him with a nice hot bath and some massage oil to ease his pain." I said in a dreamy voice to irritate her.

"Yeah, or maybe not. What about, the man gets home from work and just to please his woman he cooks dinner and massage her. That sounds way better, don't ya think?"

"No, no that won't do. I think we need to think this one over again."

"Hey, here are your drinks. And Leon, your mom said that she'll make something special." Shannon placed the drinks on the table and went away again.

Kyra took a swig of her Corona. I still can't believe that I fell for a girl who's only 16. Though, she doesn't look like 16, you can see in her face and body language that she's been trough a lot in life. But her personality is so much different. She's happy, optimistic and always in for something fun.

"What? Why are you staring at me?"

"I'm not staring, I'm telling myself how beautiful you look."

"Showoff."

I laughed at her. She was crazy. But she's gorgeous and I like her. Now, all I need to do is don't fuck it up.

My mom made real good tortillas with her home-made sauce. The dinner was really nice and we had a lot of fun. During dinner we talked about everything. We went from cars to the team and how we came together. It was really nice, I actually think that I've never had a conversation like this with a girl before. But I never really talked to a girl, because most of the time I was just having her for the night. You can't count Letty of Mia, cause they're like family to me.

After dinner I went to say bye to my mom. When I entered the kitchen I saw my older brother David talking to her.

"Hey D, how you living?"

"Leon, is mom right? Did you actually had a date with a 'real' girl?" That was my brother, always being funny.

"No, she's inflatable. Mom, we're going." I kissed my mom goodbye and started my way out of the kitchen.

"Wait, aren't you gonna introduce me to her?"

"If you insist. Follow me, funny guy." We walked out of the kitchen

"Kyra, I want you to meet my older brother David." Kyra turned around and stared in my brother's face, shock written all over hers.

KYRA'S POV

This is not happening to me! Not now, not when everything's going great in my life! There he is, David Marquez, the motherfucker that left me hanging after our last job, what made me get caught.

"Kyra?"

"David." I looked at him, then turned to Leon. "Look Leon, I'm really sorry but I gotta go." I turned around and went outside, ignoring both Leon and David calling me.

Making my way to the road, Leon and David ran out of the restaurant.

"Kyra, please stop. We need to talk."

"David, please save me your time. When I needed you to talk to me, you weren't there and now you wanna talk?"

"Just listen, we've been searching for you. The whole crew has."

"Yeah, sure you have. Well, let me tell you were I've been. After that job, I got caught by the cops. I spent the last 3 years of my life behind bars. Do you know how it feels, when you're 13 and you're locked up knowing that you won't get out for the upcoming 3 years?"

"We thought that you went to the safe-house. By the time we got there and we found out you never came here, it was too late…"

"Too late for what? Too late to send someone to pick me up, or help me get a good alibi? Don't talk bullshit David. The truth is that you and the team chickened out on a 13-year old girl, who you promised that she'll never be alone." I couldn't believe he was still trying to talk his ass out of this shit, while it is pretty clear what happened.

"Kyra, they looked for you, trust me. They came to me and we had Jesse search for you on the net." Leon looked at me, stepping closer.

"And you Leon, I knew I'd seen you before. You were there, with David, right before we went to do the job. You were in the room with us, with me. For the last month or so you've been trying to hook up with me. Did you know who I was, or was I a new face to you?"

"I, I didn't know sure. In the beginning I thought I knew you, but after all those weeks of being around you I thought you couldn't be. You're so much different than you were 3 years ago. And you looked way older then you should've been if you were the girl I thought you were. By the time I found out you were 16, it didn't matter anymore cause I already fell for you."

"I should've known there was something I was missing. And when you told the restaurant-thing I should've known it was too coincident. But the stupid girl fell for it, be happy. Now, if you will excuse me, I got better things to do right now."

I started my walk home. This was so my own fault, when I saw Leon I had to have recognized David's features. They look a lot like each other, but still I didn't see it. And now I got myself into a lot of shit cause of it.